U.S. – China Trade Negotiations Move to Higher Level

As the deadline is
nearing, the much talked about trade negotiation deal between the two
largest economies in the world moves to a higher level. U.S. Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin has reached China and said he was looking
forward to holding trade talks.

The talks are scheduled to
run through the next Friday; it would be followed by three days of
deputy-level meetings to work out technical details, including a
mechanism for enforcing any trade agreement.

“Looking forward to
discussions today,” Mnuchin told reporters without elaborating as
he left his hotel.

He along with U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer initiated the meeting shortly
afterward at the Diaoyutai state guest house with Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He, the top economic adviser to Chinese President Xi
Jinping.

If the two countries do
not reach an agreement, U.S. tariffs on imports worth $200 billion
from China are scheduled to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent. The
deadline is increasing pressure and costs in sectors from consumer
electronics to agriculture.

The United States
President Donald Trump on Wednesday told the reporters that the
negotiations had been progressing “very well.”

Trump’s advisors termed
the March 1 as a “hard deadline,” and the president has
said a delay was possible though he preferred not to do so.

A report of Bloomberg
cited sources saying Trump was considering pushing back the deadline
by 60 days to give negotiators more time.

Talking against that
assumption, Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of China’s nationalist
Global Times tabloid, tweeted that speculation on an extension was
“inaccurate,” citing a source close to talks.

Chinese Commerce Ministry
spokesman Gao Feng told reporters he possesses no information on the
trade talks’ progress but would release information once there is an
update.

Trump, however, said he
did not expect to meet with Xi before March 1 deadline, but White
House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has raised the possibility of a
meeting between the two leaders at the president’s personal retreat
at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she noted Trump was saying his wish of
meeting Xi, and that China was willing to maintain “close contact”
with the U.S. side, but said she had no information to share on any
visit by Xi.

U.S. Department of
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky said on Wednesday that
two head of the states were expected to meet “sometime in March,”
but no dates have been set yet.

The Chinese Government has
shared few details of the negotiations this week.

In the meantime, Chinese
trade data released showing imports from the United States fell 41.2
percent from a year earlier to $9.24 billion, the lowest amount in
dollar terms since February 2016.

Exports to the United
States also declined 2.4 percent to $36.54 billion, the lowest amount
since April 2018.

China’s trade surplus
with the United States decreased to $27.3 billion in January, from
$29.87 billion in December.

China’s soybean imports
fell 13 percent in January from a year earlier, customs data showed,
as a heavy duty on shipments from the United States, its second
largest supplier, curbed purchases.

The United States has used
tariff as a leverage to bring Beijing on the table demanding
significant structural policy changes, including ending the forced
transfer of American technology, fully enforcing intellectual
property rights, and curbing industrial subsidies.

However, Chinese officials
denied accusations of trade abuses. But, as the negotiations are
moving on, the chances of China agreeing to the demands by the United
States seem brighter.

However, a report in
Global Times read, “China will never harm
its fundamental interests. The trade war has tested the policy, and
we have seen the change in Washington’s attitude.”

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